Responses to Applications?

[Noah121]

Has anyone registered for an R/S Challenge but not gotten any response from Nintendo? Our area (Lincoln, NE) was asked to be a location before the tournament applications began, but we've gotten no response since. Has this happened to anyone else?

[meganium45]

Um, in a word, yes.

I spoke with reps of NOA at Origins and Gencon, but never a response to any of my correspondence. Shame, as I had locations lined up large enough to hold the events.

Thought it was personal until both of my stores I play at for league were approved.

No responses to e-mails, nothing.

St. Louis has a good Pokemon base, I do not want to see it fail for lack of support.....

Understand your frustration.

Wonder if some of these people running the events even run a league? Seem to be just these premier organizer engines (only got 21 at one R/S challenge, I get more than that at league!)

Yes, frustrated too. Will still be driving to Chicago for their R/S challenge

Meganium45

[Rocketman]

I don't know what they're thinking. They give 20 R&S tournaments, only 3 west the Mississippi ( i may be off a little) none in places like LA, Houston, St Louis, Dallas :confused: ... WOTC had 53 SBZ's in one day when they could have said the heck with it. This was supposed to get gameboy players to play TCG. I will have to go 8 hours if I want to go to one, and I may, but again, how is this getting gameboy players to play TCG ? Your average gameboy player is not going to travel that far to play a game he can play at home. It's not like nintendo doesnt have quallfied Master Professors that will set up and hold tournaments for free almost begging to do it for them all around the country! I hope this is just growing pains. This was pretty lame after the build up at gen con & Origins.
Rocketman

[GymLeaderPhil]

The folks at PUSA and Nintendo are looking for individuals with experience at organizing Primere Events like last year's Gym Challange, STS Qualifiers, and other events. Running a League, BattleZone, and other smaller local venues is not what they are looking for at this point. Those smaller events will be starting soon and once it does, everyone will gain experience towards running the big events. Insurance also plays a big role in decision making. Look at some of the people that did get to run these events. That's alot to live up to.
-Phil

[SD PokeMom]

Ummmm...actually Chrisbo and I didn't _run_ the events, we judged; the TO for the SD R/S Challenge was the same one who TO'd the WCSC last June at the SD Convention Center.

I've seen the requirements for a premier TO, and they are WAY out of the league of most of us: insurance, the ability to rent a hotel ballroom/meetingroom for 150+, etc. You're looking at a pretty signifigant cash outlay, up front, just for the venue...not to mention product, prizes, publicity, etc.

And if you happen to be first on the list of events and not have a lot of time to publicize your particular event, because of the circumstances (the date for the event 'broke' when I was on vacation, so not able to notify my League till I returned, among other things)...you end up like SD, where there were only 21 participants. I'm sure that hurt, financially!

I know it's frustrating seeing premier events go to others who may not have the committment to THIS particular game as some of us do...but I can also see PUI's side in this too. They are supplying a lot of prizes, materials (the link cables, signage, etc.) and need to go with not only experienced organizers, but ones with a reputation/track record of sorts. Remember the stink about some of the first (and even some of the second) set of SBZs, where the TO did not have DCI forms, hadn't run DCI sanctioned events in YEARS, the TOs/judges played alongside the players and got not only judge support but also prize support...obviously, PUI wanted to make sure NOTHING like this would happen with this event. Can't blame them for that, no...not with the level of prizes in this one (but please don't take that as my saying that anyone here on the 'Gym _would_ do something like that :o).

I guess I'm just saying, try and be patient. I really wouldn't like to be in the shoes of Jimmer and Dave, attending all the gaming conventions, trying to get their OP up and running NOWNOWNOW, getting premier events, the Professor program, rulings, reading the board here to get a 'feel' for the community, etc etc etc...


Anyway, JMHO,
'mom

[meganium45]

No offense Phil, but I am insured. I have experience running large events (not all Pokemon or CCG), and I have been single-handedly (with my professors at my gym) been keeping Pokemon alive in my area.

We had people calling both my gyms asking about the R/S events, and have had to simply state, as of this week, that there will be none in our area at this time.

I am driving to Chicago, but not many other people will.

Look at the concentration up east...

the most frustrating thing is NO COMMUNICATION....

I see who got to run the events, and deservedly so. I spoke with the gentleman they asked to run the Indy area event, great guy, deserves it, but he did not even apply!

I spoke with NOA at Gencon, at Origins, submitted what I was told to submit, and heard NOTHING from them. Was told each time they would get back to me. Never did. In my business that is a great way to lose clients.

Not a no, not a thanks for taking the time to research venues and apply, but we will not be holding an event in your area this time, not even an acknowledgement that I have even taken the step to volunteer to assist.

Maybe that is the problem. I have been volunteering my time. If I had attacked Pokemon like a business, and been charging for my time all along, Pokemon would be dead in St. Louis.

I will continue to support the game. We have a big cash tourney today in St. Louis - completely unlimited with Ninetendo cards allowed (truth be told, My kids are not using any, but Pelipper was tempting to both of them) I have other tourneys planned. We got over 50 kids to play in the Dragon King Championships which led to a free Rochester Draft for the title! Great plus for our kids who could not make it to Gencon! Supported by, me, Dragon King Games and Hobby

NOA has to realize that there are a few of us out there who have busted ourselves for this game. Will continue to bust ourselves for this game, and will keep our gyms and areas going, but only if we feel that we are not being taken for granted.

Is this a demand that I get a premiere event? No.

I am happy to be running 2 leagues at 2 separate stores in St. Louis (which I vol. my time for, and do not own or work at either store - have an outside job)

I would just ask that the lines of communication be better.

Meganium45 - go ahead and flame me with responses

[)v(ajin_ipg21]

Meganium45,

I sympathize with YOU, c'mon SKYWOLF did not seem to have a CHALLENGE in his area this time around (I hope he was at least approached)

WE ALL KNOW how much he has done... so IMO that was a downer (if..).

NO one is going to flame you BUT I do understand the frustration involved with WORKING YOUR BUTT off and seem to have little head way or communication.

From what I remember hearing THEY wanted 50 locations. It was reduced to 35. JULY was a CRAZY month for them with all the CONs going on.

THEY went after EXPERIENCED PREMEIRE TO's, again many of them MAGIC.

I was shocked to know how many POKEMON parents are part of that & were asked o_O... I for one would have admitted I WOULD feel that I would not have the resources to RUN one of these (game know how YES, event know how, THAT is a MUCH bigger resposnibility)

*I am not happy THESE events ARE NOT IN THE LA/OC area =/*

Oh well, time will tell, AND PATIENCE is something we all must have, THEY may have pokemon as a FRANCHISE but Nintendo DOES not have the OP.

It'll happen... and hopefully they can learn from ALL that WotC has done and does.

[Rocketman]

We will need lots of patience while nintendo gets their act together. BUT, it's not like they started pokemon yesterday. I may not be the best or most knowledgeable judge or TO going today, but this is not the worlds. I'ts not even sanctioned. Why does nintendo need magic premier TO's to run an unsanctioned event and why do they need rented space for 150 when none of the May SBZ's even came close to that number. And why so many in the east? Spread it out a little! Give everybody a chance. And most of all, why did they not even give the courtesy of a no thank you to their strongest resourse: the professors. A trained work force nationwide willing to work for free! There are some really good Professors being shut out, no offense to the few that are getting to run events. They are all very good, but they are by far not the only ones!
No other CCG has the support of a program like this, and to be honest, pokemon would have no op right now if the program didn't exist. At gen con and origins, I met with Dave and Jimmer, I really like them and i feel they will do a great job IF nintendo lets them. And by the way, I have heard NOTHING from NOA about the September prerelease, how 'bout you Meganium? Remember nintendo, WE WORK FOR FREE! so put us to work!

[GymLeaderPhil]

Professors = Judges.

Being a Professor does not mean you are capable of running a Primere Event and, in some cases, even a normal sanctioned event (due to age).

Nintendo/PUSA does not need Magic Primere TOs. They NEED Primere Tournament Organizers in general, not just Magic folks. The BIG difference between previous events and current events is this simple underlying fact: The TO does not judge the tournament. Nine times out of ten, if a Magic Primere TO or another Primere TO with no experience with the Pokemon TCG is asked to organize a Primere Event, a Professor that does know the game will be asked to assist the Primere TO.

Why do they need Primere Tournament Organizers? These fine folks have already sanctioned, organized, and dealt with events of this size and magnitude. They have insurance and they have the venue ready. Otherwise, we'd have some average Professor with no TO experience. He or She would probably book the tournament at his house or very small card shop that stole all the prize support. That's not the atmosphere Nintendo/PUSA is looking for the Ruby/Sapphire Challanges nor the Sandstorm PreRelease. These are big scale events, not some dinky little Modified Tournament that you go to every Saturday. SBZ was those kinds of tournaments, this is a whole 'nother ballpark.
-Phil

[Rocketman]

No offense Phil, but as for me, I have been a Master Prof. for 2 years,( yes, I even run little dinky tournaments) I have people qualfied to judge, I have TO'ed 2 SBZ's and the store I would run this in has insurance, (and they don't steal prize support) but you don't understand what I mean. First of all, the fact that NOA did not give us a response at all , even something like " thanks, but you're not even close to what we need in a TO, thanks anyway" would even be nice. Second, 90% of r & S are being played in the Northeast, which sucks if you don't live there. Third, where did nintendo get the info that 150 people were showing up for pokemon tournaments? Not one SBZ came close to that with the average being around 30. So what 'nother ballpark were you talking about, anyway? ( if you build it they will come....) Fourth, Even if you think I'm not qualified to run tournaments, there were many Master Prof. who got the same treatment I got, and as I said before, a little communication goes a long way. I also am not demanding a preimer event, I would like to see more of them and spread out a little. Heck, I would rather play anyway, as I hardly ever do with running little dinky tournaments. ( note: I would be happy to help any preimer TO who does not know pokemon. ) Fifth, perhaps I was not clear, I DO NOT think every professor should have the opportunity to run preimer events. But for those who are master professors and have run SBZ's, others who have run tournaments bigger than dinky, have proved that they can run an event equal to R & S, or maybe you haven't seen the nunbers for them yet. Which brings me to sixth, size and magnitude. San Diego had 20, another had 10. Yep, those are big time alright. I'll bet a dollar to donuts not one R & S get 150. ( I really hope I'm wrong). But theres nothing wrong with that, not everybody will bring 150 players. pokemon will not bring in large nunbers everywhere, but a little all over will add up to a lot. Of course, if you want numbers, why leave out L.A., with the pokemon players they have there, and one of the best TO's in the country! BTW, I had a little dinky tournament today, had only 25 players. Not quite big time, like the R & S in San Diego!( note: no offense to San Diego, or the pokemon players there, I was @ the statium challenge there last year, you guys rock, as does your city.) I would like to see a preimer event in enough places that everyone could get to one reasonably. If you lived in say, Houston , you might feel differently. Maybe the Master professors who were able to wrangle an R & S event could talk to NOA for the rest of us, so we can ALL enjoy something other that our little dinky tournaments, 'cause some of us can't get a peep out of them. Understand Phil, the whole point of this is to get more events around the country. For ALL of us. 20 R & S's are really kinda dinky.

Professors = judges
Master Professors = dinky TO's

[GymLeaderPhil]

I love how people take offense if I state some of the reasons why you MIGHT not be accepted to run a R/S Challange or Pre Release. Supposedly, I'm suppost to take everyone's sides and be happy-go-lucky person. Otherwise my replies are taken personally and twisted around so they can explode in my face. Special. I dont appreciate it, I've dealt with it before on WizPoG with a few previous members, and I just do not want to put up with this attitude if I even open my mouth to offer constructive advice. :(


I have no earthly idea why NOA isnt replying to you. Wait. Yes I do. They dont do organized play. http://www.pokemon-tcg.com/p_resources/resources.jsp are the only contacts you should be talking to regarding organized play, NOT Nintendo Customer Support. If you contacted that address or submitted a request to become a Primere Tournament Organizer and did not recieve a reply, heck if I know why they didnt reply. Try bugging that Email address above. They might know.

150 people is for space concerns. Did anybody predict that attendance would be low to these events? Yes. Could they have been wrong. Yes. 150 was a precaution to not have some comic book shop turn away 100 people from the event because they only have space for 50. SBZ were local events. SBZ were on the same weekend. This sort of event was planned to attract players from other states to attend, sort of a mini Stadium Challange from my viewpoint. Why didnt anybody show up? Lack of advertising and lack of interest in the format. With conventions for about the entire month of July, Pokemon USA was almost never in their offices trying to schedule these events. That's why the location listings were posted so late. The Primere TO of the R/S Challange I'm head judging this Saturday was pushed into a steep deadline of one day as of hearing it to book a venue. This was really a last minute event, those who were ready for Pokemon USA were given support. In addition, TCG/GBA players did not want to pick up the other game. This was a great marketing attempt by the higher ups, but it just didnt work out with both communities. From now on, according to attendance, both will be seperate from one another.

Lack of R/S Challanges in the rest of the country? Yeah, I kinda noticed and dont like that either. What gave you the idea I was against more events? Never was and never will be against more events. And I'm not against any of you organizing these events in any way, since I dont know any of you. I really seriously wonder how ANYTHING I said above gave you the impression that I dislike you in some form or fashion. If I despised you I'd probably be using more of these symbols: :mad: :mad: :mad:

Personally, I dont know you or what credits you do have with the game itself, but if you are up to Pokemon USA/Nintendo's standards, you should be running events. I DO NOT KNOW HOW THEY PICK PRIMERE TOURNAMENT ORGANIZERS! You should consider some of the things I said above, like if you have a venue (that is not a retail location) with insurance and experience running events outside of a retail location. Why? Just ask anyone they have given these events to, they have all of those key qualities and more. It does not come down to knowing the game at all, as long as someone else will pick up the slack.

Fact is, complaining about it on here is not going to do ANYTHING to help your chances on becoming a Primere TO. You'll get a whole lot of sympathy from others but that doesnt win you any brownie points. Email them and tell them your situation. Do not yell, do not curse, do not accuse them of being evil people, etc. Whenever I recieve an Email from somebody with attitude and compete disrespect for authority it usually result in a deletion of that Email. I personally dont want to put up with some person yelling at my face when I'm feeding them for free. Get the picture? I hope you did.
-Phil

[soslowpoke]

I'll have to agree with Phil here. And then some, sure you TO'd 2 SBZs, but did you TO last years Stadium Challenges, did you TO Origins and GenCon? If so, have you TO'd MANY events of that calibur?

These are the kinda people that got the Challenges and Prereleases. They didn't beg to NOA, PUI, or anyone, they were simply just ASKED to do it because PUI just didn't have enough time to really look for people who they thought were capable, they needed to go through and just get who they knew wouldn't screw up. I'm sure you all who are griping about this would have made fine TOs for the event and if there was more time to actually get these events planned out better that you'd all get chosen. PUI wanted to jump into things as soon as they can and this happened to be the unfortunate result of it.


And just to clear things up...
Chrisbo, 'Mom, Dayton_GymLeader, Dayton_Pokemom, and myself = Master Professors = Head Judges

I'm not sure how many of the people who actually "wrangled this event" were Master Professors themselves...


I guess you could say we 'ran(/will run)' everything. A TO that's actually 'fluent' in Pokemon is just a sweeter icing on the cake.

[Rocketman]

Ok, this has gotten way off course. Phil, it's not personal, this is a discussion, but it's not necessary to belittle other professors with little dinky tournament comments. That will give someone a bad impression. These are not Gen Con's, Origins, STS's, they are not even sanctioned events. Not even close to a Statium challenge. But as more places get left out, more players leave, then what. Nintendo decides it's not profitable anymore. Then Soslow, you will be a Master Professor of nothing. We all will. The professor voices together advising nintendo that more events are needed around the country will help pokemon as a whole. If you want to play devils advocate for them, fine. As long as we say nothing, we get nothing. Working together will help pokemon to grow, for all of us. Would'nt you agree with that?

[soslowpoke]

Yes I totally agree with making things grow, but as Phil said, these events were INTENDED to be large scale events. (anyone could tell you know that that idea was a flop)

I think we should wait until the 'real stuff' comes along

[NoPoke]

GLPhil, I don't disagree with you entirely....but...
there had to be a but didn't there ;)

If never having held a large tournament disqualifies you from holding a large tournament then how do you ever get to hold a large tournament? Not quite catch 22 but almost.

I don't care how busy people are it is just plain rude not to respond to emails when those emails were solicited in the first place. The reply doesn't have to say much or even anything other than thankyou for your interest. If you request people to contact you then you must respond.

I haven't recieved a single response form any email that I've sent into Nintendo. I'm not alone in this. You want to know what I feel about this? Well I'm worried: Europe looks like it is being ignored, parts of the USA are similarly ignored. Maybe that is not the case but it sure looks like it! I had hoped that things would be better under Nintendo but from here they look just the same :(


Examples of how things haven't changed......

No pre-release tournaments in Europe
No news on 'International' other than comming soon!
No events in Europe...other than our own independant ones
No news on OP...unofficially I hear that it has been 'delayed'
R&S finally released in the UK...but after three false starts.
Promos available in Scrye (a USA based mag) and at USA tournaments.
No Grandfathering of Profs outside the USA.

======

No I'm not trying to highjack this thread into a Europe whinge fest. Its just that most of the examples that I can give of how things arn't getting better under Nintendo are unsurprisingly from a European perspective.


remember....

Good News or Bad News, but not NO NEWS!


Implicit in the explanation that Nintendo require Premiere Event TO's is that these Premier Event TO's have organised successful events.... unfortuanately it just isn't always so. I have had first hand experience of a premier Magic TO not caring about a major pokemon event...the result was not pleasant. Attitude is at least as important as experience.

The TO is responsible for the venue, logistics and selection of a suitable head judge. Venue is determined by anticipated turnout. Logistics aren't an issue until several hundred players are expected. Even then selection of a suitable venue tends to cover most of the logistic issues. Selection of a suitable Head Judge and venue staff will then ensure that the event is a success. There are oportunities to get it horribly wrong but provided that you are willing to accept help even a novice TO can organise a event upto 150 players.

[Toonpark]

Examples of how things haven't changed......

No pre-release tournaments in Europe
No news on 'International' other than comming soon!
No events in Europe...other than our own independant ones
No news on OP...unofficially I hear that it has been 'delayed'
R&S finally released in the UK...but after three false starts.
Promos available in Scrye (a USA based mag) and at USA tournaments.
No Grandfathering of Profs outside the USA.

And that is exactly why I'm getting out of this game !!!

My time is precious and only deserving causes get the benefit.

[meganium45]

My main point was not to attack Phil (or anyone else) it was to poiint out that no response was received.

We have tried to contact every e-mail available, but no response.

My area is clamoring for a Sandstorm pre-release, but it looks like another drive to Chicago...

Prerelease ideally would be a little bit more widespread than the Ruby Sapphire Challenge.

Some response would be appreciated.

Still run tourneys, still played Pokemon.

Interesting how in a completely unlimited tourney, I can count on one hand the number of people who actually had R/S cards in their decks, and much to his credit, the winning deck used a Metal Chansey with EX Chansey!!!

That will prob be the last Metal Chansey win ever (new rules), but we had one last hurrah under the Wizards rules

See you all soon,

Hopefully hear from Nintendo soon

Odd how I have heard more from Wizards since Origins than Nintendo!

Only reason this board was used is that MT Jimmer signed on, so I thought someone from Nintendo would pay attention.

Meganium45

[NoPoke]

Phil....
no one is having 'a go at you' or 'taking offense' at your statements to the gym.

If your replies 'explode in your face' then maybe just maybe some of them weren't quite as good as you hoped???

A little communication from Nintendo would go a long way, and wouldn't require you to take on the role of appologist. BTW if you do take on that role then you have to expect a little flak. ;)

I wish I was on the inside looking out 'cos it sure is cold and lonely outside.

[GymLeaderPhil]

If never having held a large tournament disqualifies you from holding a large tournament then how do you ever get to hold a large tournament? Not quite catch 22 but almost.

Good News or Bad News, but not NO NEWS!

First thing I told our friends over at Pokemon USA a few months back was your quote NoPoke. :thumb: And, although some things will never see public light due to legal issues, for the most part everything that could be told, was released to the public on their website (even if a few dates were not on target). I imagine it is very hard for those involved to talk about things while another company is still involved (or even admit that they cant say much). Same thing happened when WotC took the license for the Star Wars card game. But the issue with European Partners should be finalized now. Otherwise the existing community will lose a whole bunch of players with no future prospects of OP support. I know that finding boosters is not a problem for some ;) ...but this needs to be cleared up quickly.

If I'm not mistaken, the Primere OP Program with WotC involved a lot of training and certain requirements. So, previous Primere TOs train new Primere TOs. I think we will see the same thing with Nintendo/PUI. It's just hard right now because of a large lack of Primere TOs to teach others interested.

NoPoke, gimme a Email later, I'd like to talk to you about opening up a larger viewing audience to conflicts overseas.
-Phil

[Rocketman]

Hmmm... now that the contract with wizards is over, we should hear something by now. I have also heard more from wizards, and while I won't be quitting pokemon, players will simply leave for other games when they offer local tournaments with prize support. Dave and Jimmer assured me at origins and gen con they had big plans, but could not talk about it then. Well guys, we're listening, show us the beef!

[GymLeaderPhil]

Hmmm... now that the contract with wizards is over, we should hear something by now.

DCI Pokemon Tournaments are still sanctionable until August 31. It's not over till WotC ends all involvement with the entire Pokemon franchise.
-Phil

[ScythKing]

First off if you remember the application asked "why should we pick you". Second part was "what's so great about where you would hold events". (severely paraphrased of course ;-) Dontcha hate essay questions?
I was picked. I think I presented myself in a good light, I explained my motivation for wanting to be a TO, I recounted my experience, and I provided a reference in the form of a Premier Magic TO that I helped run all the area premier Pokemon events.
I pointed out the geographical and logistical advantages of the area that I'm in, and the historical support that is present in the area.
Now hold the flames but maybe I handed in an "A" paper and some of the rest of you were B's and C's. I sold myself and the area that I'm in. That's what we were expected to do - Nintendo isn't gonna randomly throw money at something that they understand needs work. They want to maximize their investment. They also want to have the events dispersed as widely possible so as to get maximum exposure. Some of you are complaining because you have to drive 3 or 4 hours to get to one and you had offered to do one where you are. Well - that's not far enough apart to rate a new venue. That would tend to water down the one they already had for that region. When it comes down to choosing which cities when they have multiple applicants - bigger is better wins hands down.
A comment was made about how many Master Professor's were selected for TO. I know of three, but there's probably more; myself, Gym Leader Blaine (Tymon), and Heidi Craig. We're all in or close to major metropolitan areas that have shown fair to good support for the brand, all three of us are fiercely supportive of the game (not like others aren't of course), we all picked venues that are NOT the local card shop - and we're far enough apart from other venues to stand alone in a geographical area.
So it's simple economics and location. Nuttin personal so you can stop thrashing on poor ol Phil. :p

[ScythKing]

We will need lots of patience while nintendo gets their act together.
There's the key.
Why does nintendo need magic premier TO's to run an unsanctioned event and why do they need rented space for 150 when none of the May SBZ's even came close to that number.
Because they have a proven track record of getting the job done while not pilfering the product for the event. In a word - professionals. As far as the numbers - I think they were a bit optimistic on the initial numbers. I think Origins and Gencon were a reality check of sorts. There were only about 200 or so Pokemon players for the Wizards last hurrah? Pretty poor showing IMHO. :eek:
(the professors) A trained work force nationwide willing to work for free!...Remember nintendo, WE WORK FOR FREE! so put us to work!
They don't want you to work for free. These are large events requiring work and effort, out of pocket expenses, responsibility for local advertising, etc etc. The old adage is true - you get what you pay for. If you work for free it is easy to say to yourself, "Hey I got tickets to the Titans game this weekend" and drop other commitments because you're NOT getting paid for it. Paying the TO's is the way to establish this is a BUSINESS relationship with commensurate responsibility.

[yoshi1001]

"bigger is better wins hands down."

Maybe, but Chattanoga, TN isn't exactly a bustling metropolis. It's scarcely larger than Madison, WI. Besides, LA din't get one-then again, they don't have a football team either.

But the real point is not "we didn't get accepted." The point is we didn't hear anything. A "no thank you" at least lets us know that they're working on a selection process. Even nicer would be be to know why we weren't selected. Of course, the best solution would have been to be up-front about what they were looking for. This would have made things easier for everyone involved.

"I think Origins and Gencon were a reality check of sorts. There were only about 200 or so Pokemon players for the Wizards last hurrah? Pretty poor showing IMHO. "

IMHO that's actually pretty good, considering that's A. More people than Wizards expected. B. An event that costs over $20 a day just to get in. I'm curious as to how many people you expected to come.

[ScythKing]

"bigger is better wins hands down."
Maybe, but Chattanoga, TN isn't exactly a bustling metropolis..
Ahhh but grasshopper - we are a mere 1.5 hours from Atlanta which is the epitome of bustle and metropolis! :lol:
Obviously it was acceptable to PUSA... If you look at the map Chattanooga is in a nice location that is a few hours from about 8 large cities. Bump the driving time to over 4 hours we can reach about 9 states via direct interstate. I presume that Atlanta qualifies in your book as significant?
Actually I would have investigated Atlanta as it is the traditional gathering grounds for the regional Pokemon crowd but for two reasons:
1) The traditional venue is what I would describe as hostile tolerance - Indy can back me on that one.
2) Simply not enough time to investigate alternate venues in that area.
I may do so depending on the numbers I get - but quite frankly all the people that have indicated they would not come base their decision on the use of the GBA - not distance. In any case I certainly hope/expect more than the grand total of 18 for BOTH OH and PA R&S events. Clearly size isn't everything.

Anyway - I've never known you to be hostile so I'm not taking it as such. So let me feel free to address the notification issue and pray for no flames.
You (collectively) were neither accepted OR rejected. Maybe they aren't done yet. Maybe this being round one they want to evaluate the results from round 1 and 2 and possibly decide on trying other volunteers the next go around. But as usual, the crowd starts hollering from impatience. Didn't we learn anything from driving the WotC MT's nutz with our incessant yammering and demands to be heard and counted?
Patience really is the key.

[yoshi1001]

And I live 2 hours from Chicago and an hour and a half from Milwaukee. Everyone's "near" something. However, you again failed to address the real problem of a lack of communication. Even if we're not TO material, we deserve to be told why.

[Rocketman]

Just so everybody knows, I am not bashing poor 'ol Phil, it was he who decieded to play devils advocate for nintendo. But what Meganium and myself were pointing out was why nintendo could'nt have at least written us even a form letter saying we didn't get accepted. I mean, if you got to travel, you got to plan for it. If you are running a tournament, you got to plan for it. Should I plan to travel, or should I plan for a tournament? Plus it's just common courtesy! Also, Dave and Jimmer told me they could'nt tell us anything until Aug., but great things were on the way, and we would be told everything then. ( I may have misunderstood them, but I'm sure that's what they told me @ gen con & origins.)
Now, to all of you who have a large player base.... consider yourselves lucky. To the Master Professors who got the R & S's..... I'm happy for you. You all deserved one, no doubt about it. John, I know you to be an excellent TO! It's not so important that I get one. That's not what I am complaining about, I just wanted one closer than 8 hours. 3-4 hours would've been great! I don't care who runs it! But I am the only person who is willing and able to hold pokemon tournaments in my area, and I work darn hard at it. So please don't tell me about dinky little tournaments and B list, it's just not fair. And before anyone says it, I know it's about more than working hard. I really don't mind traveling to tournaments, I rather like it, but for the players in my area who don't get to do the company sponsored tournaments and can't afford to travel, it would be nice to get them one.

[ScythKing]

Just so everybody knows, I am not bashing poor 'ol Phil, it was he who decieded to play devils advocate for nintendo.
Yes he did :D
But what Meganium and myself were pointing out was why nintendo could'nt have at least written us even a form letter saying we didn't get accepted.
Maybe what I had to offer got lost in the weeds. (legal disclaimer - this is the sole opinion of Scythking and not to construed as having my nose any place that would be deemed inappropriate :lol: )
Maybe they aren't finished!!!! They can neither say yes or no or even maybe! No is likely to discourage and may not even be final. Maybe would get hopes up where there should be none. Yes of course is the answer of choice. Here they are with a short time frame and a volunteer pool. So they make choices. I'm sure that they will evaluate those choices after the initial R&S and pre-release. THEN they will have some breathing room to make better/long-term choices.
So cheer up! The glass IS half full in that you didn't get a dreaded NO! I personally hope to see a denser collection of events as they get on their feet. I personally would hate to travel that far - but I did so for Gencon, I wished I could have squeezed in Origins - a small item called a budget. ;) I just hate to see ya'll suffer so much angst. the locations have been chosen for the first two events - after that you may get a very pleasant surprise. I don't think the old B&M is going to accomplish much in positive results though...

[NoPoke]

Personally I maintain that silence is the worst of all responses.

I'm a big boy and can handle bad news.

The result of silence is speculation and bad feeling. The inevitable consequence of this is a loss of trust.

Maybe they are planning additional R&S tournaments maybe they aren't. It would be much better to just come out and say that 'There won't be any more available' . They can then tell us honestly what the chances are of additional tournaments that are not part of the first series.

Its like the format issue...Its ok to listen to the players for a while but there comes a point when a decision has to be made and announced. No matter which decision Nintendo make there WILL be a lot of discussion about 'if N made the right choice'... the discussion may get a little heated. But that decision will be accepted and eventually become part of the history of the game.

A company boss was once asked 'how do you learn to make good decisions?', the reply was telling...'by making bad ones'

[ScythKing]

Personally I maintain that silence is the worst of all responses.
I'm a big boy and can handle bad news.
The result of silence is speculation and bad feeling. The inevitable consequence of this is a loss of trust.
A company boss was once asked 'how do you learn to make good decisions?', the reply was telling...'by making bad ones'
*sigh* I think you are approaching the wrong flank.
I'm Nintendo - I get LOTS of submissions. Which ones, which ones. So I pick those with the most APPARENT experience as I just don't know these people.
Do I assume that these people are all going to work out as one big familiy? Not if I want to keep my job as there will assuredly be changes. Too great of odds to be anything else.
Do I want to send home some potentially great players because I made a snap decision that the first string would make the cut?
Again - not if I want to keep my job.
I think no news is the best news that can be hoped for besides a yes because the ONLY option is a NO.

[Noah121]

One thing I believe is frustrating is that the tournaments are not well-spread across the country.

[NoPoke]

We have had a diet of silence and broken promises in the UK... trust me NO NEWS is the WORST option.

You can plan around NO as an answer. But the player base get bored, fed up , and leaves when fed silence

[DaytonGymLeader]

OK, here's my take on a few things:

Why get Magic Premier TOs? Why not?!?! Most of these folks have some tie or another in the form of a judge that they have used in the past to the Pokemon Community. They have an established track record. They have contacts with venues. They have deeper pockets than Joe Q. Professor. Has anyone actually looked at the backgrounds of the folks who are working OP at Nintendo? 99.9% of them are former WotC or Decipher employees. People tend to go with what, to them, are known quantities. However, if there is no growth, you will fail. There will be new Premier TOs brought in and "raised" by Nintendo, as evidenced by those folks who are speaking up in here. There are probably a whole bunch of "A papers" that were written. Hopefully, Nintendo isn't finished contacting folks about being Premier TOs.

Is not hearing anything (acceptance or rejection) a bad thing?
YES
This IMO is a no-brainer and has been echoed enough over the past 4-5 years in this community to become a mantra better than koombya. Both the wife and I never heard back on TO status either. We also knew that there are other and better candidates in our area, which probably led to us not being selected. Speculation always tends to be negative about things like this and there should have at least been a courtesy email about status.

One salient point that everyone has been forgetting (with some notable exceptions) is that Nintendo is still new at this. They, IMO, are still the crawl phase of operations. They still have quite a bit to learn and do to get to the walk phase. They'll probably be there by the time December/January rolls around. I understand why they have an aggressive schedule with OP, they MUST establish themselves with the community as it currently stands. If they do not do that, they will fail.

[Gym Leader Blaine]

And just to clear things up...
Chrisbo, 'Mom, Dayton_GymLeader, Dayton_Pokemom, and myself = Master Professors = Head Judges

I'm not sure how many of the people who actually "wrangled this event" were Master Professors themselves...

I guess you could say we 'ran(/will run)' everything. A TO that's actually 'fluent' in Pokemon is just a sweeter icing on the cake.

After reading everything posted I felt I should post also. As asked by soslowpoke and stated by Scythking, I am a Master Professor that was given one of the 17 R&S Tournament to be held in Salt Lake City area, or as also stated one of three west of the Mississippi. I feel very lucky and am thankful to be given one to run. I am not a Premier WOTC Magic TO, just a Pokemon player that loves the game, has TO many Pokemon tournaments in my area, and tries my best to bring as many major tournaments to the area for other players to enjoy. Which I’m sure that is what we all want to do, hence the frustration with not hearing back from Nintendo that some of you have.

As Dayton_GymLeader stated some TOs will be new Premier TOs brought in and "raised" by Nintendo, so it does happen, and I am one of them.

My back ground which I did put on my Premier TO app, was that I have been playing the game for 4 yrs, was a Gym Leader for a WOTC Game Keeper store for over 2 years, have been a TO for over 2 years, was the head judge at the past WOTC Challenge events, one of which I ran the whole thing and all the TO had to do was put the information in the computer and send it to the DCI. I have put on many local events, including both of the SBZ in the area, and have three great Master Professors that are a great help to me when running tournaments in the area. Now some of you have stated similar back grounds as mine, so you might ask why him and not one given to me, and to tell you the truth I don’t know, but I am thankful I have one for my players in the area.

To be honest I was not Nintendo's first choice. As someone stated at the first of this post that Premier Magic TO was given a tournament when he didn’t even apply for it. The Premier Magic TO in my area was contacted by Nintendo asking for a proposal one running one. I had faxed in my Premier TO app the first day it was posted Nintendo was taking apps, and he didn't even submit anything. I was contacted by the Premier Magic TO and he told me about it. Since the SBZ he has passed all Pokemon tournaments onto me, and did the same with this one on passing the information to me. The next day I got a email from Nintendo which what I needed to know, submitted my proposal for the R&S tournament, and was given a call later that day that my proposal was accepted.

Now some of you have stated that you have not even been contacted by Nintendo to even be given the chance to submit a proposal for any of the tournaments and what I have to say is just wait. There will be more Premier tournaments in the future, and I know they will need TOs for those tournaments. I’m sure Nintendo is also going to want TOs help running the ladder league tournaments and such. If you have yet to hear from them, my idea to you is fill out the application again and send it into Nintendo. Let them know that you want to run the tournament. The best thing you can do it show them you are interested in running them. If there are other Master Professors or other people with TO experience have them fill out apps also, it will help show Nintendo that there is a desire to have tournament in your area. :thumb:

[Rocketman]

IMHO, no one is more trained to run a pokemon tournament than Master Professors. We have been training for over 2 years to do just that, some more. Steve didn't even get a response? Man, that's wrong.
There will never be a regional tournament with 150 players, and Magic TO's are not needed anymore. Every section of the country that is left out loses old and potenial players, as they find a CCG that will support them. And big rented halls are not needed to have these tournaments, I really hope that the Professors renting these are not taking a bath. I don't care how deep one's pockets are, losing money gets old quick. Now if they give out trips.....we may have a better turnout. Does anybody remember the turnout for the challenge series? I went to 3 gym amd 1 stadium and I'm sure the gym's didn't get that much, but the stadium ( San Diego) did. That may be where NOA got their #'s from, but the stakes were higher
( trips!)

[IndigoMaster]

What scythking said on the first page about atlanta is absolutly correct, The war room, www.thewarroom.com is an absolute horrid place for a pokemon event. Not only is the store managed in a non pokemon friendly enviroment, but Norcross GA, which is where it is located is not quite the safest of all places, expecially for small children and is NOT a very comfortable place for a mother to be taking her child to alone.

As for atlanta being a better venue than charlotte would have...i don't think it would. We really have no pokemon activity, chattanooga is just as good, most likely much better seeing as how scythking has a league there.

And yea...sorry to be off topic, i don't really have much to input as far as TO Applications go, seeing as how i'm under 18